a problem of perspective luke 13

8/14/2019 A Problem of Perspective Luke 13

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A Problem of Perspective Luke 13:1-21ByBob DeffinbaughCreated 06/24/2004 - 00:00

1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood

Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, Do you think that these Galileans wereworse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! Butunless you repent, you too will all [likewise, NASB] perish. 4 Or those eighteen who diedwhen the tower in Siloam fell on themdo you think they were more guilty than all the othersliving in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all [likewise, NASB]perish.

6 Then he told this parable: A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to lookfor fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, Forthree years now Ive been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and havent found any. Cut itdown! Why should it use up the soil? 8 Sir, the man replied, leave it alone for one moreyear, and Ill dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it

down. 10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there whohad been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up atall. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, Woman, you are set free fromyour infirmity. 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up andpraised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said tothe people, There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on theSabbath. 15 The Lord answered him, You hypocrites! Doesnt each of you on the Sabbathuntie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not thiswoman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set freeon the Sabbath day from what bound her? 17 When he said this, all his opponents were

humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.18 Then Jesus asked, What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is likea mustard seed, which a man took and planted in [threw into, NASB] his garden. It grew andbecame a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.

20 Again he asked, What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that awoman took and mixed into [hid in, NASB] a large amount of flour until it worked all throughthe dough.

Introduction

Ones perspective makes all the difference in the world. To most of you, a car that is sick ordead has no appeal. If you own it, you probably will try to think of a way of getting someone

else to purchase it, or even to take it off your hands. On the other hand, when I look through thecar section of the want ads, I have no interest in those cars which are running well. I want thesick and the dead ones.

The son of a farmer looks at cow manure as something which he must endlessly shovel out of thebarna pain in the neck. The flower gardener, on the other hand, looks at manure as freefertilizer. They delight to get the stuff. They shovel it around the flower beds with joy. A merematter of perspective.


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Our perspective is very much a reflection of who we are. A Christians perspective is very muchdetermined by his or her spiritual gifts. To the apostle Paul, John Mark was a liability, a manwho could not be counted on, and thus a man who should not be taken along on a missionaryjourney. To Barnabas, whose gift was encouragement, Mark was an opportunity and a challenge.Mark was a man who needed encouragement, and Barnabas was the man to do it, just as he hadministered to Paul (Saul) in the early days of his Christian walk.

In our text, we find two very different perspectives reflected. One is that of the Jewish leadershipand of many of their followers. The other is the perspective of God, as seen in the viewpoint ofour Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In verses 1-5, a certain group of people viewed the tragicand untimely death of a group of men as an indicator of great sin and of Gods wrath. To Jesusthis tragedy took on an entirely different meaning, one which He shared with His listeners. Theparable of the fruitless fig tree in verses 6-9 is our Lords response to the previous incident,teaching Israel about themselves and about God.

The account of the healing of the hunchback, the Israelite woman who had been stooped over for18 years (verses 10-17) again reveals a very different set of perspectives. The womans long-term suffering produced one response, and her healing evoked praise from her and delight for

many, but it greatly irritated the ruler of the synagogue, who did not want the Sabbath violatedby such work as healing. Jesus has an entirely different perspective from this man, as we shallsee in our study.

Finally, in verses 18-21 our text ends with two very short parables. These parables, one about amustard tree (vv. 18-19) and the other about leaven (vv. 20-21), give a divine perspective on thekingdom of God, one, as we might expect, very different from that of most Israelites.

Mans natural way of viewing things is never the same as Gods (Isaiah 55:6-9), and thus we canonly know Gods thoughts from His Word, as revealed to us through His Spirit (1 Corinthians2:14-16). Let us approach this text as those whose perspective is warped and distorted by sin, andlet us look to God to give us that perspective which is like His. Let us listen well to these wordsof Scripture and heed them as the Word of God.

A Reminder

As we approach this text it is especially important for us to remember Lukes audience and hispurpose in writing this gospel. Other gospels were known to Luke, but he wrote this gospel forGentile believers. He is not writing to a Jewish audience, as Matthew has done, but he is writingto Gentiles, showing them how a Jewish Messiah, in fulfillment of His promises to Israel, canbring salvation to the entire world.

Our text from this lesson is one which helps to explain why Israel rejected Jesus as her Messiah,and of the way in which God used Israels hardness of heart and rejection of Christ to bringabout His promised kingdom. The nature of the kingdom of God is very different from thatwhich Israel expected, and it is brought about in a very different manner than they thought it

would be. Few texts will give us more insight into the reasons why God took the kingdom awayfrom Israel and gave it, as it were, to the Gentiles.

The Meaning ofthe Massacre of the Galileans(13:1-5)

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilatehad mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, Do you think that these Galileans were worse


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sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless yourepent, you too will all [likewise, NASB] perish. Or those eighteen who died when the towerin Siloam fell on themdo you think they were more guilty than all the others living inJerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all [likewise, NASB] perish.

Jesus was still surrounded by a multitude of thousands (Luke 12:1), sometimes teaching the

masses (e.g. 12:54) and at other times teaching His disciples (e.g. 12:22). Sometimes it was notclear just who He was speaking to (cf. 12:41). At one point in time a delegation came to Jesuswith some tragic newsa report that Pilate had recently slain a group of Galileans237 [1] as theywere worshipping. He mixed their blood with their sacrifices, we are told (v. 1). We do not knowwhether those who came bearing this account were Galileans themselves, or (more likely in myopinion), whether they were not.238 [2]

There was a meaning to this message. The report was conveyed to Jesus for a reason. Those whowere the bearers of this bad news viewed it through their own perspective, a perspective whichdiffered from our Lords. Jesus response to them exposed both their thinking and the error itbetrayed. They had already drawn a false conclusion: these Galileans were greater sinnersthan others. This false conclusion was based upon a faulty premise: ones suffering in life is

indicative of ones sin, just as ones prosperity is proportional to ones piety.Jesus rejected both the conclusion and its premise as being false. He asked the question, whichHe answered with a simple, but emphatic, no. Then He immediately changed the focus. Thetragedy which befell those Galileans should not be viewed as an opportunity to judge those whodied at the hand of Pilate to be great sinners. Instead, it should be perceived as a warning toall sinners, namely themselves, of a judgment which awaits them.

Before we turn to the words of our Lord, found first in verse 3 and then repeated in verse 5, let usfirst take note that our Lord turned the attention of these men to another tragedy. This was also atragedy which occurred in Jerusalem, at the tower of Siloam.239[3] Here, 18 men were killed whenthe tower in Siloam suddenly collapsed and fell on them. These men were not greater sinnersthan others either.

Some point out that while the Galileans died at the hand of man (namely Pilate), the 18 peoplewho died in Jerusalem died at the hand of nature, at what we would call an act of God. Wemay also conclude that while the first group of men who died were those from Galilee, thesecond group seems to be those who lived in Jerusalem. If these Jerusalemites tended to lookdown their noses at the Galileans, Jesus will provide them with an example of their own peersdying in a similar way, tragically, prematurely, unexpectedly. While they compared Galileanswith themselves, Jesus compared Galileans with Galileans (v. 2), and Jerusalemites withJerusalemites (v. 4).

There are differences between these two groups of men who died, but the similarities seem morestriking to me. First, those in both groups died. Jesus is not speaking of suffering in generalterms, but specifically of death. He also warns His audience of the death which they will

experience. Second, both groups died in a similar wayquickly, unexpectedly, tragically.Third, both groups died at a place and time when they may have felt very safe . When woulda legalistic Jew feel more spiritual and closer to God (thus safe from divine judgment) thanwhen he was performing his religious ritual of sacrifice. They died while offering sacrifices! Andthe 18 men who died in Jerusalem died while standing near a tower, undoubtedly a tower thatwas a significant part of their defense network. The tower would be that place where guards werestationed, the place from which an attack from outside the walls of the city would be countered.Where could anyone have stood that would have made them feel more secure? And yet they died


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by the tower. Literally, they died under the rubble of that tower. That which they viewed as theirsalvation was their destruction.

Judaism, from the perspective of the self-righteous (and lost) Israelite, was his salvation. Being aphysical descendant of Abraham was all one needed to be assured of a place in the comingkingdom. This was what the typical Israelite thought. Jesus words should have sent a chill down

the spine of every listener. These people all died doing that which made them feel safe andsecure.

Jesus words, as I understand them, and as they are twice stated in our text, are specificallydirected toward the nation of Israel:

I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all [likewise, NASB] perish.

The Lord calls upon all of His hearers to repent. The word repent is not new, but here itunderscores the fact that those who are listening are sinners, too. Would they play the mentalgame of weighing the sins of those who died? Jesus let them know they were sinners. Wouldthey ponder the death of those Galileans? Let them recognize that they, too, will die. Will theylook at these few as especially sinful? Then they must be told that they will all die in a similarway.

I do not think that our Lord is speaking of death in a general way. He is not saying that all menwill eventually die, and thus they must repent of their sins in order to be ready for their time ofdeath. Jesus is speaking to the nation Israel. Jesus is speaking to that generation of Israeliteswhich has seen Gods Messiah and has failed to accept Him as their King . This generationwill perish, but it will, as a group, face an even more terrible death than those about whom theyhave just been speaking. That generation of Israelites will come to a tragic endingthemselves, the sudden and irreversible destruction that will come when Rome comes infull force to annihilate the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to destroy the city .240[4] I believethat this is what Peter was referring to in his powerful sermon, recorded by Luke in the Book ofActs:

And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, Be savedfrom this perverse generation! (Acts 2:40).

There is, of course a general (and very important) sense in which be saved should beunderstood, but here the salvation of Peters audience specifically includes a salvation from thatgeneration and the destruction which lies ahead for all who persist in their rejection of Christ.This is the same destruction of which our Lord speaks in our text in Lukes gospel. If Jesuslisteners think that these two small groups of people died suddenly and unexpectedly for theirsins, it is nothing compared to that which lies ahead for them. Let them not bother to ponder thesins of others. Let them repent of their own, and quickly!

The Parable ofthe Fruitless Fig Tree

(13:6-9)

Then he told this parable: A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look forfruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, For threeyears now Ive been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and havent found any. Cut it down!Why should it use up the soil? Sir, the man replied, leave it alone for one more year, and Illdig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.


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The relationship between the preceding five verses and this parable may not be immediatelyapparent, but it is clear and direct.241[5] In the previous paragraph, Jesus was speaking to Israelitesas Israelites, and warning them of the destruction which was coming for the nation. This parableof the fruitless fig tree is drawing attention to the same thing, only in a different way. The figtree was a frequently employed and well-understood symbol of the nation Israel .242 [6] Jesususes this parable to underscore for His audience, once again, the utter failure of Israel to live upto the standards and expectations which God had held for it over its centuries of history. Theparable is not only going to underscore Israels sinful fruitlessness, but also the nearness ofits destruction, in tree-terms, its time for being cut down .

Typical of ancient and modern practice, a fig tree was planted in the midst of a mansvineyard.243[7] The farmer expected the tree to be producing figs, and for three years he had cometo look for fruit, only to find none. He had concluded (and long experience would confirm) thatthe tree was never going to produce, and so he ordered it cut down. The vinedresser appealed tohim to wait just one more year, and then cut it down if it persisted in failing to produce a crop.The tree was not only fruitless and useless, it used up valuable ground. It should be cut down if itcontinued not to produce.

Farmers understand this imagery very well. An egg farmer will keep careful record of theproduction of his hens. A non-producer will not be kept long, but will be put to better use in thestew pot. So, too, with cattle or with other kinds of fruit trees. Useless and unproductive plantsare not tolerated, nor should they be. A farmer has the right to expect a return on his investment.This farmer is fed up with this fig tree, but he is persuaded to wait one more year. Time forthis tree is short indeed.

This parable not only teaches the sinfulness of the nation Israel, it also underscores theshortness of the time and thus the urgency for the nation to repent and be saved from thewrath of God which is to come. That fire of which John the Baptist has warned (Luke 3:8-9)and more recently our Lord (Luke 12:49ff.) is drawing near in time. Let the Israelites cease toponder the sins of others and begin to act in repentance concerning their own sins .

Do the three years that the owner has waited for figs (v. 7) correspond to the length of time ourLord has already spent preaching the gospel to the nation Israel? Perhaps. I am inclined to thinkso. This would mean that there is little time left for the nation to repent. Jesus is alreadypressing toward Jerusalem (9:31, 53; cf. 13:31-35). As the time of His death draws near, sodoes the time of Israels destruction.

While this parable, like the account of the tragic deaths of the Galileans and those who died bythe tower of Siloam, conveys a message of warning to the Israelites, it also corrects another errorin the thinking of the people. The inference underlying the conclusion of the people in verses 1-5is that God hastened the death of those who died, in judgment of their (greater than normal) sins.Our parable tells us the exact opposite. The people were wrong to conclude that these peoplewho died prematurely were greater sinners than their peers. God had not come to judge them

early because of their greater evil. Indeed, the parable of the farmer and the fruitless fig treespeaks rather of the patience and longsuffering of God with respect to the stubbornrebellion and sin of Israel . This extended time, this delay in judgment, was for the purposeof allowing Gods people further opportunity to repent. While some sinners may very wellinterpret and apply His delay as an occasion to expand in their sin (cf. 12:45), the righteous willknow better. The erroneous conclusion of the people reveals the perspective of the people; thepoint of the parable reveals the perspective of God.


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The Healing of the Hunchback(13:10-17)

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who hadbeen crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, Woman, you are set free from your

infirmity. Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people,There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath. TheLord answered him, You hypocrites! Doesnt each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkeyfrom the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter ofAbraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath dayfrom what bound her? When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the peoplewere delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

The next paragraph, you will note, is the longest in our passage. That should tell us something ofits significance. At first it would seem that the story of the healing of this woman is totally out ofcontext. It almost seems like an interruption. This is not the case however, for this incident

vividly demonstrates the difference in perspective between the Jewish religious leaders andJesus, a difference which will shortly climax at the cross of Calvary.

The scene has now changed. Jesus is no longer teaching the multitude; he is teaching, for the lasttime in Luke,244[8] in a synagogue. There was a woman there who had been demonically afflictedwith a spinal problem for 18 years. Jesus took the initiative and sought out the woman, layingHis hands on her (something Jesus seemingly never did to demoniacs) and healing her instantlyand completely.

Her response was almost instantaneous. She began glorifying God. Here was worship like thissynagogue had probably never seen before. Many of the crowd joined her in rejoicing at herhealing. Many, but not all. The ruler of the synagogue and some others (cf. vv. 15, 17) were nothappy at all. Unlike Jesus, they had no compassion on the woman, nor did they rejoice in her

deliverance. In contrast to the joy of many, the ruler of the synagogue was mad. He wasincensed, but he did not confront Jesus. Instead, he went about rebuking the people, demandingthat if they wanted to be healed there were six days in the week for such things, but not theSabbath.

Jesus called the man and those who agreed with him245 [9] hypocrites. There was much about thisrulers objections which were hypocritical. For example, he says that there are six days on whichpeople can be healed. How many healings do you think occurred in that synagogue? Do youthink that this woman could have come back on the following day and been healed? Not if Jesuswere gone. I suspect that this woman was a regular at this synagogue, but she had not foundhealing (let alone sympathy) in 18 years. How could the ruler of the synagogue dare to evensuggest that healing would be available at some other time?

Another form of hypocrisy, as I read between these lines, is that this man was to be a leader inworship, as well as in teaching. While most of those present were actively praising Godworshipping as they had never done beforethis leader was doing everything possible to shutdown what was going on.

The greatest hypocrisy however must be that which Jesus chose to highlight. Jesus accused thereligious leaders of hypocrisy because they would routinely sanction breaking the Sabbath forthe benefit of one of their animals, but not for the benefit of this woman, a daughter of Abraham.


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They would loose their donkey on the Sabbath, and let it drink, 246[10] but they wouldprohibit Jesus from loosing this woman from Satans grip, from her bondage, which hadlasted now 18 long years. Their compassion was selective, self-centered, and hypocritical.

Jesus stinging rebuke of this hypocrisy brought a two-fold response. The people who rejoicedwith the woman loved it, rejoicing over all that Jesus was saying and doing. The opponents,

however, were humiliated. They were not sorry. They were not corrected. They were just put toshame. Their day, they must be telling themselves, will come. So it will seem.

What was the difference in perspective, in the thinking of the Jewish religious leaders, whichbrought about this totally opposite response to the healing of this woman? How could they beindignant when the people were ecstatic? I believe that the answer is really quite simple. TheJewish religious leaders felt that they were righteous, deserving of divine blessings. The othersseemed to know better. The Jewish leaders therefore not only refused and rejected the graceof God (as seen in the womans healing), they despised it . How could this be? They felt thatboth divine blessing and divine indignation were Gods response to mans deeds. They thoughtlegalistically. In their minds, EVERY ACTION HAS AN EQUAL AND CORRESPONDINGRESPONSE FROM GOD.

When you read the Mosaic Covenant, this is precisely what you find. When Israel sinned, Godbrought chastening and discipline. When Israel obeyed the law which God gave, God blessedthem. Thus, we can see how those who came with the report of the tragic slaughter of theGalileans revealed a legalistic outlook. If something really bad happened to people, they musthave been really bad. If something really good happened to them (e.g. prosperity or long life),they had to have been good. In the words of the song Julie Andrews sings in the Sound of Music,I must have done something good

What the Israelites had forgotten was that the Mosaic Covenant was temporary and provisional.The promises God made to Abraham would not be fulfilled through the Mosaic Covenant, butthrough a new covenant. This new covenant was prophesied and described, for example, inJeremiah 32 and 33. The blessings of God and the coming of the kingdom of God would not

be the result of Israels obedience to the law, but due to the righteousness of Messiah, andthrough His death on behalf of sinners, bearing the condemnation of the law which manssins merit (Isaiah 52:1353:12).

Why would Israelites reject the Messiah and the new covenant which He came to establish? Whywould they prefer the condemnation of the law to the blessings of forgiveness and eternal life inChrist? There is only one answer: These Israelites were self-righteous. They did not regardthemselves to be sinners, but rather as those who were righteous before God and thus deservingof His blessings on the basis of their good works. They would, in contemporary terminology,rather do it themselves.

It is the difference between Jesus perspective and that of His opponents which is spelled out inthe final two parables of our passage. Let us consider them and their message as we attempt to

draw this lesson to a conclusion.

The Mustard Seed and the Yeast(13:18-21)

Then Jesus asked, What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like amustard seed, which a man took and planted in [threw into, NASB] his garden. It grew andbecame a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches. Again he asked, What shall I


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compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into [hid in,NASB] a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.

Before we consider the meaning of these two very brief parables, let us draw back for a momentto think through the gospel from a broader point of view, as it is explained in the context of allthe gospels, and in the remainder of the New Testament. We know that Israel did not, as a nation,

turn to Jesus as Gods Messiah, and that the nation as a whole rejected Him, agreeing with Hiscrucifixion. We know also that Jerusalem was destroyed and that the nation was scattered, not tobe brought back to the land until a few years ago, and they are still in a state of unbelief so far asJesus is concerned. We know that the Jews rejected the grace of God and that the gospel hassubsequently (and consequently) gone out to the Gentiles, and that God is now working throughthe church, rather than through Israel, although in a future day this will change (cf. Romans 9-11). The Messiah and the message which Israel rejected, some of the Gentiles (and a few Jews)have believed. These two parables describe this, I believe, in somewhat veiled language.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

The first parable is that of the mustard seed. Elsewhere the emphasis falls upon how small theseed is and how great the tree which results (cf. Matthew 13:31-32). Here, however, Jesus places

the emphasis on the action of the man, who carelessly casts the mustard seed aside, into hisgarden. The NIV is clearly inaccurate here, veiling the clear sense of the language. The NASBsays it literally, the man threw the seed into the garden.247[11] He did not plant it (another word,which is found above in verse 6). This parable must be understood in contrast to the parableabove, of the fruitless fig tree. The fig tree was purposely planted (a different word in verse 6than our word here in verse 19), and it was carefully tended and nurtured. This mustard seed wascast into the garden. I am inclined to think it was a part of his throwing compost into the garden,as fertilizer. The man did not intend for a tree to grow here, and surely not a mustard tree .The birds which gathered in it would only tend to steal the things growing in the garden (as anyof us farmer-types know from painful experience).

The message of this parable is simple and pointed, I believe. Jesus has warned Israel of Gods

impending wrath. They have been the fruitless fig tree that is about to be cut down. Themustard tree is that tree which God has chosen to replace it with . The imagery of a tree,providing a place of protection for birds, is one commonly associated with the Gentiles in theOld Testament.248[12] It is the careless casting away of the seed by Israel which results in thegreat tree of the largely Gentile kingdom.

Isnt this amazing? Many of the Jews wanted to work for their place in the kingdom of God bymeticulously keeping the law. No wonder the ruler of the synagogue was so upset aboutbreaking the law as he saw it at least. But in striving to earn Gods blessings, they rejectedtheir own sinfulness and thus the Savior as well. When they threw salvation away, the fig treewas cut down, but the mustard tree flourished. The rejection of Messiah by Israel has broughtsalvation to the Gentiles.

The Parable of the Leaven

The second parable in this pair is that found in verses 20 and 21. Here, Jesus likens the kingdomof God to the leaven which a woman seeks to hide in three pecks of meal. The NASB speaks ofthe leaven as being hidden in the three pecks of meal, while the NIV says it was mixed into alarge amount of flour. The word clearly means to hide (cf. its use in Luke 8:17; 18:34; 19:42;Matt. 13:44; 25:25). While the woman attempts to hide the leaven, the result is the opposite, forit permeates the entire portion of meal.


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You will remember that God saved Israel to be a light to the Gentiles. The Jews did not likethe Gentiles, as the book of Jonah graphically reveals. They did not want to share theirblessings with the Gentiles, and thus they sought to hide the truth and keep its blessingsonly to themselves. It was foolish and futile for the woman to attempt to hide the leavenin the meal. So, too, it was foolish and futile for the Israelites to try to hide the light of thegospel from the Gentiles. You will recall that Jesus spoke clearly about the salvation of theGentiles to His people, and that their reaction was a violent one (cf. Luke 4:16-30). In the veryact of their trying to prevent the gospel from going forth to the Gentiles they only caused it tospread more quickly and effectively. In the book of Acts Luke will demonstrate that Jewishpersecution in Jerusalem will only scatter the church and the gospel more and more.

The kingdom of God is like this, Jesus says. The Jews who think they are righteous will rejectChrist and will refuse to repent, and thus they will be judged as a nation. The fig tree will be cutdown. And in its place will be a mustard tree, as it were, the church. By trying to conceal thetruth from the Gentiles, the nation has only proven to have unwittingly spread it abroadGodsunfaithful and uncooperative evangelists. Let all Israel listen and learn from Jesus words ofwarning and instruction.

ConclusionThis passage concerns the nation of Israel, its rejection of Messiah, its self-righteousness, and theimpending judgment which will fall on all those who do not renounce their faith in Judaism andidentify Jesus as their Christ, their Messiah. It explains why the kingdom of God was taken fromIsrael, and why the Gentiles have come to play a very prominent part in Gods program for thechurch.

This text surely underscores the urgency of Israels need to repent, before the time of judgmentcomes upon that generation. But if it contains a message of warning to that generation, it alsospeaks to us of the urgency of repentance and of evangelism. If you have not come to a personalfaith in Jesus Christ as the Savior whom God sent into the world to bring about the forgivenessof sins, you should sense the same urgency of which Jesus spoke. You see, when Jesus ascended

to heaven, to sit at the right hand of the Father, He did so to wait until the Father indicated that itwas time to return to judge the world and to deal finally with the wicked. He is coming again,and that coming is soon. Those who have not trusted in Christ as their Savior may soon findthemselves standing (or falling) before Him as their judge, even as Paul warns in Philippianschapter 2. Jesus will return to purify the earth with fire, as Peter spells out in the third chapter of2 Peter. The delay in His coming is not do to His disinterest, but is due to His compassionand longsuffering. He is giving men further time to repent, just as the fruitless fig treewas given addition time to produce. But there is a day of judgment and fire coming soon. Beready for it. The only way to be ready is to repent of your sin and to trust in Jesus as the One whodied in your place, for your sins.

This text also admonishes Christians that as the time of Christs return draws near, we need to be

found watching and waiting for Him. We need to be faithful to proclaim and hold forth thegospel, which is the light that we are to carry to all men. We are no more to hide this lightthan Israel was to do so. Let us be faithful to call upon men to be ready for the coming kingdomof God.

Finally, let us beware of the same kind of thinking which was typical of the Israelites of Jesusday. Let us beware of thinking that those who die early or in some tragic way are worse sinnersthan we. Let us view a more prosperous and lengthy life not as our reward for being righteous,but as Gods grace.


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I find that we Americans often exude the same kind of national pride which typified theIsraelites. They thought that God blessed them because they were more pious, more spiritual.This was not so. God blessed His people in spite of their sin, and out of His grace, rather thantheir goodness. We Americans often think (and even are so bold as to say) that we are prosperousbecause we are a Christian nation, and we send out missionaries, and so on. Any prosperity wehave and continue to experience is, in my understanding, solely the outgrowth of divine grace,rather than of human merit. Let us realize that the kingdom of God comes to the earthbecause of the righteousness of Christ and the grace of God manifested through His Son.And let us be humbled by the fact that the kingdom has come to include the Gentilesbecause of Israels failure and sin, not due to our own righteousness.

237 The Galilean zealots were notoriously turbulent, and Pilate was ruthlessly cruel. Manymassacres marked his administration (Major, The Mission and Message of Jesus, p. 281) Thefact that Josephus makes no mention of this particular instance of Pilates cruelty is of noimportance. He leaves many incidents unmentioned. In any case he mentions a sufficient numberof Pilates actions to make us realize that this Roman ruler was an utter brute who on more than

one occasion acted as in this case. Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, TheNew International Commentary on the New Testament Series (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. EerdmansPublishing Company, 1975 [reprint]), p. 370, fn. 4.

238 If the Galileans were offering their sacrifices in Jerusalem, as it would appear, then thetragedy occurred there. This could mean that the ones who came to Jesus with this report were,themselves, from Jerusalem. They may have been residents of Jerusalem. If so, they would beinclined to look down on Galileans (cf. John 1:46; Matthew 26:69; John 19:19; Acts 1:11; 4:13-16). There may thus have been some pleasure in giving this report.

239 The pool is Siloam was near the angle where the southern and eastern walls of Jerusalemcame together. The tower of Siloam which fell was probably part of the ancient system ofdefense on the walls in the vicinity of the pool of Siloam. Geldenhuys, p. 371, fn. 7.

240 The fate of these people is a reminder not of their sinsthey were neither better nor worsethan many othersbut of the urgency of the Gospel. Had they only known what was astir, beenwarned that Pilate was in a black mood or that the building was dangerous, they might havesaved their lives. But there was nobody to warn them, and they perished. So this generation, saysJesus in effect, is walkingpolitically and religiouslystraight for disaster. But the warning hasbeen given, first by John the Baptist and now by Jesus. It is a warning to change direction beforeit is too late (T. W. Manson, pp. 565ff.). Geldenhuys, p. 371, fn. 6.

The parable here evidently refers to Israel, to whom God gave full opportunity to bear fruit butwho remain unfruitful, as appears from their rejection of Him, the promised Christ. Butnevertheless God will give them a last chance, and if they should then still persist in unbelief andsin they will be irrevocably cut down from their privileged and protected position as the chosen

people of God The majority, however, refused to repent and thus they drew upon themselvesthe disasters which accompanied the Roman-Jewish was (A.D. 66-70), when their nationalexistence in the Holy Land was irrevocably cut down. Ibid, p. 372.

241 This parable fits in exceptionally well with what is described in verses 1-5, for through thisparable Jesus once more calls attention to the urgent necessity of true repentancea repentancewhich will bring forth fruit. Geldenhuys, p. 372.


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The preceding passage has stressed the importance of repenting and this one highlights the factthat opportunity does not last for ever. Leon Morris, The Gospel According To St. Luke, TheTyndale Bible Commentary Series, R. V. G. Tasker, General Editor (Grand Rapids: William B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974), p. 222.

The point is that the absence of judgment here and now cannot be construed as a sign of ones

righteousness. Rather, if judgment does not strike immediately, it is a sign of Gods mercy, nothis approval (cf. Acts 14:15-17; 17:30; Rom 2:4ff.; 2 Pet 3:9ff.). One is being given a lastchance. Charles H. Talbert, Reading Luke: A Literary and Theological Commentary on theThird Gospel(New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1984), p. 145.

242 The fig tree is frequently used as symbolical of the Jewish people (cf. Hos. ix. 10; Joel i. 7).The position of the parable after the preceding narrative points to an interpretation of the fig treeas symbolical of the Jewish people, which is to be allowed yet a short period for repentance(Creed, in loc.). Geldenhuys, p. 373, fn. 1.

John the Baptist (Matthew 3:10; Luke 3:9) warned Israel that she, like a bad tree, was near to thetime of being chopped down.

243 It was and still is the custom in Palestine to plant fig trees and other trees in a vineyard.Ibid, p. 372.

Note the linking of the fig tree with the vineyard in these texts, for example: Joel 1:7; Zechariah3:10; Micah 4:4; Joel 2:22.

244 This is the last instance in Luke where Jesus appears teaching in a synagogue. The hostilityof the Jewish authorities increased to such an extent towards the end of the Saviors activitiesthat He would afterwards no longer be allowed to appear in the synagogues. Geldenhuys, p.374.

245 In verse 15 we are told Jesus answered him, the focus being on this one man, but then Jesuswent on to accuse others with the plural expression, You hypocrites. We see in verse 17 thatthe synagogue ruler and all Jesus opponents were being humiliated. The rebuke of this one man

was, in effect, a rebuke to the others who agreed with him.

246 The rabbis were greatly concerned that animals be treated well. On the Sabbath, animalscould be led out by a chain or the like as long as nothing was carried (Shabbath 5:1). Water couldbe drawn for them and poured into a trough, though a man must not hold a bucket for the animalto drink from (Erubin 20b, 21a). If animals may be cared for in such ways, much more may adaughter of Abraham be set free from Satans bondage on the Sabbath. In fact Jesus uses a strongterm and says she must (dei) be loosed. Morris, p. 223.

247 The word threw in the NASB is planted in the NIV. The term Ballo seems to have themeaning, to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls as indicated (among twoother choices) by Thayer, p. 93. Thus, in Luke 23:34 (and parallels) it is used for the casting oflots of the soldiers. It is found in the very text we are studying in 13:8, for putting in fertilizer.One throws manure. In Luke 21:1-4 the term is used to describe those who are casting theirofferings into the treasury. The planting of the fig tree above in Luke uses another term for itsplanting.

248 The birds roosting in the branches are often a symbol for the nations of the earth (Ezk.17:23; 31:6; Dn. 4:12, 21). Morris, p. 224.

Plummer here writes: This was a recognized metaphor for a great empire giving protection tothe nations (in loc). T. W. Manson agrees with this: Both in apocalyptic and Rabbinical


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literature `the birds of the heaven stand for the Gentile nations (loc. cit.). Geldenhuys, p. 378,fn. 4.

a problem of perspective luke 13

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